


Shadow Of The Emperor

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Kylo Ren Redemption, M/M, Past Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron Is A Mess, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Protective Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25103239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: In which Rey takes Kylo back on the skimmer.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Kudos: 5
Collections: The Darkpilot Library





	Shadow Of The Emperor

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: This is half an idea I wanted to do for a while, half based off one trope in Poe’s portrayal in fics that infuriates me.

Poe usually was good at staying calm. Usually. And yet, even as he paced his room at the Resistance Base, he couldn’t bring himself to stay calm. He ached — his heart ached, his head ached, and his fists already ached to lash out at something. Anything at all. 

Anyone —

“You said that you would always be there for me.”

(It had been hours since Rey had taken Kylo Ren — Ben Solo — back on the skimmer. Hours since he was a prisoner in the Resistance Base. Poe only hoped that they wouldn’t hurt him. They were better than this, after all)

Even as Poe spoke, he could imagine that Ben was there, in the room with him. He didn’t have that Bond with him that Rey did, something Snoke likely constructed, but he could imagine talking to the imagined image of Kylo Ren, demanding answers. Demanding to know why. 

”You said I meant something to you!” Poe shouted. “That I wasn’t alone! That I mattered. That...that even after everything I did at Kijimi, you believed in me! You...” He trailed off. “I thought I was important to you, Ben...”

Footsteps. Poe half-expected it to be Finn. It was Rey, instead. Rey, looking actually...concerned? For him?

”You were shouting,” she said. 

”What was your first clue?” Poe said wryly. 

Rey sighed. “You know, I’m trying to help you, and you’re making it difficult...”

"I’m upset.”

A beat. 

”You said Ben’s name,” Rey said. “And Finn...Finn said you recognized him. On Crait. Without his mask. You have Ben’s name as the code to your X-wing.” A beat. “You don’t just do that. And I figured considering how little you told me about yourself, including that you were a spice runner...”

”I’ve made peace with it,” Poe said firmly. “I’m trying to atone, the best I can."

”You haven’t told us a lot of things.” Rey said. “I know Finn’s still...mad at you...”

”Yeah, I’ve been a right schutta, haven’t I?” 

”You have,” Rey said bluntly. 

Poe felt a smile tug at his lips. Then, more seriously, “There’s a lot of stuff that I didn’t say about me. Because it hurts. And when something hurts, you figure you don’t talk about it. And Kylo Ren...hurts.” A beat. “Best thing I can do is tell it like a story. So it doesn’t hurt that much.”

Rey nodded. She trusted him. He’d have to be a fool to betray that trust. 

”Once upon a time, in a better time than this...kriff, it sounds cheesy, but why not?" Poe sighed as he spoke. “There was a child. A boy, who wanted to be a pilot like his dead mother. A boy, born during the Galactic Civil War. When the boy was three, he made a friend. Another boy, strong in the Force. They grew up together. The Jedi boy...well, for some reason I can’t understand to this day, he loved the pilot boy. Looked up to him, even though the pilot boy was nothing compared to him. The pilot couldn’t use the Force, use a lightsaber, wasn’t descended from royalty, and yet the way the Jedi looked at him...the pilot saw it, that the Jedi looked up to him." A beat. “Even when the Jedi was sent away, he and the pilot were best friends. A bond that even the voice in the Jedi’s head couldn’t break.”

”The voice?” Rey said. It was clear she hadn’t thought of this. Didn’t know. Did Luke tell her?

”He had a voice, in his head. The pilot still didn’t know if it was real or not. But it showed him the galaxy dying. It showed him losing those he loved. It said that he was nothing. That his friends and family hated him.” Poe’s voice cracked. “And no matter how the pilot tried to say the opposite of what the voice said...the voice didn’t go away. It was there. Festering. Whispering. Imagine seeing this happen to someone you loved...”

”Oh stars,” Rey said. “I’m so sorry, Poe. I had no idea.”

”It’s not your fault.” Poe swallowed; he could feel himself struggling not to cry. “I don’t know how to feel about him." How did he sum up his emotions in the course of one decisive statement?

”You don’t have to know what to feel.”

It struck Poe that that was the first time he and Rey had been civil to each other. All over Kylo. Over Ben. 

”Poe,” Rey said, “I know why the Jedi in your story fell.”

”Did he tell you?”

Rey nodded. “The Jedi’s uncle was afraid of him...”


End file.
